A Return to Hoenn: Ash Battles Brendan
by jmoul18
Summary: Ash has just finished his journey in Kalos, and May has invited him to Hoenn for a visit. Ash and Serena arrive in Littleroot town, and stop by Professor Birch's lab to catch up with their old friend. Ash, however, meets an opponent who he wont forget for a long time: Brendan


A Return to Hoenn:

Ash Battles Brendan

By jmoul18

*LEGAL DISCLAIMER: All rights to Pokémon belong to the Nintendo Company and GameFreak, for now *Diabolical grinning*.

Character ages:

**Ash – 19**

**Serena – 19**

**May – 18**

**Brendan – 16**

Brendan is going to be using my team from Alpha Sapphire. I'm also going to assume Ash's Froakie will evolve fully.

**Pokémon will know more than four moves here. Sorry Nintendo, it just makes more sense this way.**

**Brendan's Team:**

Typhlosion

Serperior

Metagross (shiny)

Latios

Froslass

Swampert (Mega)

**Ash's Team**

Sceptile

Greninja

Charizard (Mega X)

Pikachu (duh)

Infernape

Snorlax

This is my second Fanfiction, so please let me know what you think of this one, and check out my first story, _Becoming a Master_. Also tell me where I can improve in my stories.

Ash has just recently taken on the Kalos League, but like all of his previous attempts to win the Pokémon League, he lost despite having mastered Mega Evolution with his Charizard. Ash wasn't mad about this loss, though, as he was traveling to Littleroot Town to reunite his old friend, May. Serena had opted to come along, while Clemont and Bonnie had remained in Lumiose City to tend to the Gym. Serena was quite excited to see another region of the world, as she hadn't been out of Kalos since she went to Professor Oak's summer camp. It had been a month since the two took the boat from Kalos to Hoenn, and the journey was nearing its end. This is where the story begins.

The Arrival:

"Ash? Ash?" Serena called out to her friend and crush as she ran towards him on the ship's deck. He was standing at the bow with Pikachu on his shoulders as he watched the town grow steadily closer. Upon hearing Serena, he and Pikachu both turned around and smiled.

"Hey, Serena," Ash said with a smile, "It won't be long before we make it to town. You will probably love it in Hoenn. May is really excited about getting to meet you." Ash then went back to his thoughts and looked out toward the destination.

After traveling with Ash for almost a year now, Serena could tell that he wasn't focusing too much on the present. In fact, the only time she had ever seen him this way was when he was thinking about a Pokémon battle strategy. "Tell me, what's on your mind," Serena said.

Ash sighed, knowing that he had made his thoughts too obvious again. "It's nothing really, but I have been hearing people on the boat talking about some incredibly strong trainer from Littleroot Town who beat the entire Elite Four of Hoenn, this same kid traveled the world and wound up beating every region's champion."

Serena already knew where this was going. "So you want to battle against this trainer."

"Exactly, and I have a feeling that Professor Birch knows who the trainer is," Ash said. Serena smiled. It was just like Ash to be excited for a battle against a strong opponent, and it seemed that this one was no exception. "Anyway, we should meet up with May at Professor Birch's laboratory before we go looking for that trainer." As Ash said that, the boat arrived and he could see May already waiting on the pier. "There she is," Ash said. Pikachu leapt onto Ash's shoulder as he and Serena went to disembark.

As soon as they touched dry land, Pikachu leapt from Ash's shoulder and ran to greet the two siblings. "PIKACHU!" May cried out as the familiar electric mouse leapt into her arms. The brunette then turned toward Ash and Serena "HEY ASH! LONG TIME NO SEE!" Ash came up to greet his old friend.

"May! It's great to see you," Ash said. Serena then came and joined the group.

"You must be Serena!" May said. "Ash has told us everything about you! It's really great to finally meet you!"

Serena smiled, "It's great to meet both of you as well. I can't tell you how excited Ash has been on the way here."

Everybody laughed, including Ash, knowing that this was inevitable. When everybody calmed down they hailed a taxi and rode to Professor Birch's laboratory. May then asked the question that had been on her mind for a while. "So, is Team Rocket still after Pikachu?" she asked.

Ash just looked at her with his eyes showing his amusement. "Yes, but Serena and I got rid of them for a while when her Delphox used Teleport to send them all the way to Unova. Needless to say, they won't be bothering us during this visit." That immediately took some worry off of May's shoulders. Along the way, the entire group exchanged stories about their travels until they arrived at the lab.

Greetings

When the taxi driver was paid, the group walked into the laboratory. Professor Birch was, as usual, nowhere to be seen. There was, however, a lone boy, about the same age as Ash, who was wearing an orange and black outfit that looked like a track suit with short sleeves. On his head was a white hat that almost looked like his hair from a distance, except for his brown sideburns. Ash had never seen this boy during his travels, but he could sense a certain air of confidence around the kid.

"Hello!" Ash said, startling the boy.

"Hi! I'm guessing that you're here to see Professor Birch," said the boy, who was looking only at Ash.

"Yeah, is he here right now?"

"Yeah, but he is out back, apparently he's waiting for a trainer from the Kanto region to show up."

Ash smiled, "well, I'm that trainer. I'm Ash from Pallet Town."

"Wow," the boy said, "I wasn't actually expecting to meet you. My name is Brendan, and I'm from right here in Littleroot Town." He then turned toward the rest of the group, "May!" he said excitedly. "It's great to see you again, how were the Unova region contests?" he asked.

"Hey, Brendan! Unova was amazing, and I was runner-up in their Grand Festival," May said.

Brendan smiled. "Well, you seem to be doing great, I just hope that Drew isn't giving you too much trouble." That was when Brendan turned to Serena with an expression that showed slight recognition, but he seemed to be struggling to remember when they had met. After a minute, Brendan said "I know I've seen your face before. Are you, by chance, Serena from Vaniville Town in the Kalos region?"

"I am! How did you know?" Serena said with complete shock

Brendan gave a half-smile, "I have actually seen all of your videos, and I must say that you and Delphox performed flawlessly in your last video." Serena turned away, blushing. That was when he turned towards Ash with an intriguing look. "You, however, I don't really know too much about, but you look well-traveled and based on how your Pikachu looks and acts, I can tell you are a Pokémon trainer of considerable skill. Have you competed in any Pokémon League tournaments lately?"

Ash brightened at that. "Yes, I have. I've been through Kanto, the Orange Islands, Johto, Hoenn, the Kanto Battle Frontier, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos."

Brendan looked like he was thinking while he studied Ash's face. "I think I know you. You were the one who lost in the semi-finals of the Sinnoh League to the trainer who used a Darkrai and a Latios, aren't you?"

"Yeah, that was me," Ash freely admitted.

"You know, I watched all of the battles in that league, and you were pretty incredible, and I'm the type of trainer who just has to battle a strong opponent when I see one, so how about we have a full, 6-on-6 battle?"

Ash was taken aback at the request for a full battle, but he smiled anyway, "Sure, but let me first say hello to Professor Birch and then have the Pokémon I want to use transferred here."

"No problem. Would you be okay with a no substitutions battle?"

"Sure. I will see you on the battlefield."

Pre-Battle:

An hour later, Ash and Brendan were standing in Professor Birch's special arena. It even had a scoreboard above. Serena, and May were both seated on a bench off along a sideline and a professional referee stood on the opposite sideline. Serena couldn't help but notice that May was slightly on-edge. "May, what's up? You seem tense," she said. May jumped slightly, having just clearly been in a daze, and turned to look at Serena.

"I'm just nervous for Ash. I think he accepted a challenge without knowing who his opponent really is," May said.

Serena was confused, but she was starting to get a little suspicious. "And just who is this trainer?" she asked.

May returned her gaze to the battlefield. "I'm not sure if Kalos trainers know too much about Hoenn trainers, but did either you or Ash hear about an abnormally skilled Pokémon trainer from Hoenn?"

Serena's eyes got wide from fear. "People on the boat were talking about that trainer. Are you saying that–"

"I am." May said, unintentionally interrupting Serena. "He started with a Mudkip and he was able to sweep every gym battle. Then, when it came time for the Ever Grande Conference, he was able to defeat every opponent without losing one Pokémon in battle. That was when he took on the Elite Four, and beat each of them. Immediately after that victory, he challenged the Champion, Steven, not a week later, and he made the victory seem like child's play. After that, he traveled the world to challenge every League, and won in all of them the same way he did in Hoenn."

"How do you know all this May?"

May looked at Serena, her face showing a myriad of conflicting emotions. "I was one of his rivals when he started his journey. We have a great friendship, as the greeting must have shown."

Serena was sure if Ash had heard what May had just said, but if he did, he showed no sign that it had affected him in the least, but despite this, both Serena and May knew that determination alone would not win this battle for Ash. He needed a strategy. "This is a 6-on-6 battle with no substitutions. No time limit." The referee then raised his flags "BEGIN!"

The Battle:

"I choose you, Sceptile!" Ash called out as he threw his first Pokéball. The grass-type raptor had its typically cool, calm and collected attitude, and it was clearly ready for battle.

"Ash, I'm sorry to have to do this to you now, but I will never lose in a Pokémon battle, and I have my amazing team to thank for that. Now, let's see you get past your first obstacle. GO! TYPHLOSION!" Brendan called out. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a Mega-Evolution bracelet and keystone.

Ash knew he was in trouble already. Despite all of his battle history, he had never faced, or raised a Typhlosion before, and it was one of the few Pokémon that could feasibly hold pace with Sceptile. Nonetheless, the first Pokémon could not be switched now. He breathed only a little easier knowing that Typhlosion could not Mega-evolve.

"Ash, you may have the honor," Brendan said.

"Alright. Sceptile, use Leaf Blade!"

Brendan just chuckled and waited until the last possible second. "Typhlosion! Dodge, then use Flamethrower!" Just as Sceptile swung its blades, Typhlosion leapt into the air, without so much as a scratch, and unleashed a torrent of fire. Sceptile got hit hard, barely holding its ground against the fire, despite severe burns accumulating. When the fire dissipated, Sceptile was on one knee, trying to recover. Brendan, however, was relentless in his commands. "Now, use Brick Break!" Typhlosion sprinted directly at Sceptile, but this attack was not going to land.

"Sceptile, dodge and use Dragon Claw!" Ash called out without hesitation. Sceptile dodged expertly, Typhlosion's attack just barely missing its mark before Sceptile's clawed hand connected with a blue-green glow. Typhlosion slid a few feet from the impact, but he recovered quickly.

"Typhlosion, use another Flamethrower!" Brendan called out. Typhlosion immediately launched another large stream of flames at Sceptile, but Ash was ready this time.

"Dodge Sceptile, and use Solarbeam!" Sceptile leapt into the air, its seed pods gathering solar energy as it leapt. When the flames dissipated, Sceptile was ready to fire its Solarbeam. As it landed, Sceptile fired a solid beam of energy. Typhlosion had little chance to dodge, but neither he nor Brendan really thought it was worth the effort. Typhlosion took the damage from that attack, but the light from the Solarbeam dissipated, Typhlosion's demeanor changed. It now had a red glow in its eyes. Now, Brendan got a supremely confident look.

"I should thank you for that Ash. You see, Typhlosion has the special ability Blaze. You just ensured your loss this round. Now Typhlosion, show them how strong Flamethrower has become." Typhosion's fire mane lit up, its flames almost reaching three feet tall, and he launched a stream of fire larger than any before, covering the entire field in the raging inferno. Sceptile had no chance to dodge the attack. When the smoke cleared, Sceptile was on its back, knocked out cold.

"Sceptile is unable to battle, Typhlosion wins the round. Ash, send out your next Pokémon."

Ash thought about this for a little bit, but then made his choice. "Go, Greninja!" Ash called out as he threw his Pokéball. The ninja frog looked supremely confident when it appeared, as it had been the key to Ash's many victories in Kalos. It had the look in its eyes that this time would be no different.

"Greninja, Water Shurikan!" Ash called out, not wasting any time. Greninja gathered water in its palms as it threw its signature attack at Typhlosion.

"Typhlosion, dodge, and use Wild Charge!" Typhlosion leapt over Greninja's attack with seeming ease. Typhlosion angled itself toward Greninja, gathering a field of electricity around itself as it plummeted toward the frog.

"Greninja, throw a stream of Water Shurikans at Tyhplosion to slow it down!" Ash commanded. Greninja was quick to obey, firing a stream of smaller shurikans, but they were getting the job done, as Typhlosion had slowed to about half of its original speed. "Now, use Hydro Pump!" Ash called out. Greninja immediately turned the attack into a gigantic stream of water which engulfed Typhlosion mere seconds before the attack collided. Typhlosion fell from the stream, clearly unconscious.

"Typhlosion is unable to battle, the winner is Greninja," said the referee.

Brendan just smirked. "Nice work Ash, you're the first person to defeat my Typhlosion. I'm thoroughly impressed, but I'm not about to lose to anybody. GO! Serperior!" he called out. The grass snake that appeared reminded Ash of his rival, Trip from Unova, quite a bit, but he did not dwell on that fact.

"Begin the round!" said the referee.

"Serperior, make this quick with an Aerial Ace, and follow it up with a Leaf Blade!" Brendan immediately called out.

"Greninja, Ice Beam!" Ash responded. Greninja shot a solid beam of freezing energy directly at Serperior, and it seemed like it would make contact, but the snake expertly dodged, charging directly at Greninja at a blinding speed. "Now, Toxic!" Ash called to his Pokémon, knowing that Greninja wasn't going to beat the Serperior, but he could at least leave a parting gift for the opponent. Greninja, who had watched Ash play too much Assassin's Creed, formed what looked like a hidden blade out of potent poison. Serperior struck with the Aerial Ace, doing considerable damage to Greninja. That was when Greninja took his chance, grabbing Serperior and stabbing it with the poison blade, which remained within Serperior's side. Serperior felt the impact, but thought nothing of it as its tail slashed Greninja with the Leaf Blade. This caused Greninja to fall, swirls in his eyes.

When Serperior had returned to Brendan's side of the field, it noticed that something was wrong and it grimaced as it looked to be in severe pain. That was when Brendan realized what had happened. "He's poisoned, isn't he?"

"He is, and in a match with no substitutions, the pain will only get worse for Serperior," Ash said.

"Damn Toxic," Brendan said under his breath.

"Now, I choose Infernape!" Ash called out as one of his strongest Pokémon took the field as it beat its own chest. This frightened Brendan, who had watched this Infernape in the Sinnoh and Kalos Pokémon League. He knew that this battle was not going to be easy to win, but he never backed down from a battle.

"Serperior, I know this will be painful, but I need you to push through the poison. I know you can do this." Serperior trusted its trainer deeply, and it wanted to show everybody how strong that bond was, despite the pain of the toxin in its blood.

"Infernape, use Flare Blitz to finish this battle!" Ash called

"Serperior, Aerial Ace," called Brendan. Serperior leapt into the air just as Infernape became covered in blue flames as they flew towards each other. The two Pokémon collided, Serperior's tail being used for the Aerial Ace, but Infernape's attack overwhelmed the grass snake and sent it flying. Serperior collapsed, but the sacrifice was not without purpose. Now Infernape landed on its feet, but immediately dropped to one knee from both the recoil and the super-effective flying-type attack. It was still ready to battle any opponent despite this.

"I must commend you once again Ash. You've done what no other trainer has ever done, including the Elite Four. I'm wondering how you'll deal with my next Pokémon, which is a perfect match-up for Infernape. Go, Metagross!" Brendan said.

Ash had seen only a few Metagross, but he had never seen a shiny one. This Metagross was purely white with a golden "X" on its face and gold spikes on the underside of its body. Ash also saw a Mega evolution pendant containing Metagrossite around Metagross, which made him wonder what Brendan would try to do.

"Ash, I assume that you are familiar with mega evolution because of your travels in the Kalos region. You can relax for this battle, I will not be using mega evolution here. I just like to keep my options open when it comes to who I want to mega evolve in double battles. Now, shall we continue?"

"Infernape, Flamethrower!" Ash called.

"Metagross, use Psychic to return that Flamethrower to Infernape." Metagross responded with astounding speed, psychic power gripping the jet of flames and curving them directly back at Infernape. The fighting fire ape was able to dodge, but barely. Luckily, the attack did very little damage to Infernape.

"Infernape, Mach Punch!"

"Metagross, respond with an Earthquake!"

Metagross stepped with one leg, causing the ground to shake violently. Infernape was almost to Metagross when he lost his balance. Infernape stumbled, his Mach Punch landing in the ground and making a small hole. This left the fighting monkey wide open.

"Meteor Mash," Brendan commanded in a tone that sent shivers down Ash's spine. Metagross's front left leg lifted and pointed toward Infernape, and just when Infernape had recovered from the Earthquake, Metagross's leg punched forward faster than the eye could follow with enough force to shatter titanium alloy. The strike landed in the center of Infernape's chest and launched the Pokémon out of the arena and into the wall, where he burrowed nearly a foot. Ash knew that Infernape had lost, and Blaze hadn't even had a chance to kick in. That had been Ash's trump card in this battle besides his Charizard. That seemed to be impossible now.

"I choose you, Snorlax!" Ash called out, his biggest Pokémon showing itself. Metagross, however, was not intimidated by this normal-type.

"Metagross, use Brick Break," Brendan called out. Metagross's legs glowed gold with power as Metagross jumped higher than it should have been possible towards Snorlax. Ash, however, was not overly concerned.

"Snorlax, use Flamethrower!" Ash called out with a smile. It was the first time since the Kalos finals that his Snorlax had used this attack, and there was no way for Metagross to dodge in time as it was engulfed by a stream of fire. This, however, didn't stop the attack, and Brendan seemed to have hatched an idea.

"Metagross, let your body heat up, then hit Snorlax with a fiery Brick Break!" Brendan called. Ash watched as a now red-hot leg extended from Snorlax's flames and slammed down hard on Snorlax's head. Snorlax seemed dizzy from the impact, but was not severely injured.

"Snorlax, use Rest!" Ash called out. Snorlax, who is most famous for both its appetite and sleeping abilities, was more than happy to comply and was soon on its back sleeping soundly as it regenerated health. "Now, use Sleep Talk!"

Snorlax stood up while still asleep and used one of his attacks. Metagross hadn't moved much since the heated Brick Break, so Snorlax's impending Body Slam landed a perfect hit. That, however, was still not enough, since Metagross is a Steel type Pokémon. "Alright Metagross, use Psychic!" Brendan called out. Snorlax was lifted off of Metagross like it was nothing more than a rag-doll before throwing the massive Pokémon across the battlefield, where it landed hard, but that wasn't the end of the battle. Snorlax woke up then, clearly not happy about having been woken up. Ash took advantage of this anger.

"Snorlax, put everything you have into another Flamethrower!" Ash called out. Metagross was faster to react this time, dodging at the perfect moment, but Snorlax simply redirected its attack, landing a hit on its opponent. Metagross cried out when it was hit with the fire. When the stream ceased, Metagross collapsed, its legs sprawling around it.

"Metagross is unable to battle, the winner is Snorlax!" said the referee.

Brendan was now clearly frustrated at having lost so many Pokémon to a trainer who never won anywhere but the no-name regions and competitions. He just took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Ash, we each three Pokémon left, let's make it memorable. Now, I choose you, Froslass!"

This Pokémon brought back memories of when he and Paul had battled in the Lily of the Valley Conference quarter finals, and it was one of his most psychologically challenging battles to date. Nonetheless, Ash was ready to defeat that Froslass, so he wasn't about to let this one get the better of him.

"Snorlax, hit Froslass with a Flamethrower!"

"Froslass, use Hail and dodge the Flamethrower." With Brendan's command, hailstones began to fall around the area, activating Froslass's Snow Cloak ability, and she disappeared just before the Flamethrower hit its mark. This Froslass was now mimicking exactly what Paul's had done, but this seemed more perilous due to there being a far stronger Froslass in this battle.

"Froslass, now use Blizzard and combine it with Dark Pulse!" Brendan called out. This was the first combination attack that had been used thus far, and it was a devastating one. Ash watched as Snorlax was not only hit with a powerful Blizzard, but the dark rings from a Dark Pulse. That was all that was needed to knock out the big Pokémon.

"Snorlax is unable to battle, Froslass wins," the referee declared.

Ash was now clearly frustrated. He had been a step behind Brendan the entire battle. If he was to win this, then he had to go to the next level. He took off his bag, reached in, and pulled out his own mega evolution keystone. He had only two options left, and one was his Charizard, who needed to be mega-evolved for him to win. What troubled Ash the most, though, was that Brendan had said that he liked to keep his Mega-Evolution options open, so that meant he had more Pokémon who could Mega-evolve. Despite his worries he looked to his oldest partner. "Pikachu, I'm counting on you. Win this like you won against Paul's Froslass, and you'll be fine.

"Pikachu pi!" the electric mouse said enthusiastically. Pikachu remembered that battle quite well, so Ash didn't even need to give commands. Pikachu knew exactly what to do, and even changed what he did slightly to avoid taking any damage. The round ended when Pikachu landed a critical hit with Iron Tail on Froslass's head. (Watch Ash's battle with Paul in the Anime for the details).

"Froslass is unable to battle. Pikachu is the winner," said the referee.

"Well Ash, I now face a problem. I have my two last Pokémon here, and I can't decide which I should use. So you decide," Brendan said as he held out two Pokéballs. "Which one: left or right?"

This threw Ash off balance. He got the feeling that whatever Pokéball he chose, he would be facing an extremely tough opponent. He just went with his gut and said "Left!"

Brendan smirked. "Well, I hate to disappoint you, but you've chosen LATIOS!" he said as he threw the Pokéball. Out came the legendary psychic dragon of Hoenn. It looked even more formidable than the one Tobias had used during the Lily of the Valley Tournament, if that was even possible. This Pokémon also had a Mega-Evolution pendant around its neck with Latiosite inside.

"Is this your Mega-Evolution?" Ash asked.

"No, it's tempting, but that's not my plan. Now, let's see how you deal with Latios," said Brendan. Ash remembered his last battle with Tobias's Latios, which had been a draw between Pikachu and Latios, but only after it had been slightly weakened by another Pokémon. This wouldn't be easy, but he knew Pikachu could do this out of all of his Pokémon.

"Pikachu, Electro Ball!" Ash called. Pikachu gathered electricity into a sphere over his tail before spinning and throwing it directly at Latios. It was moving at a blistering pace, but even that wasn't enough to hit Latios. The legendary Pokémon seemed to disappear just as the attack flew past.

"Latios, Dragon Pulse!" Brendan called out. When he said that, Latios materialized directly behind Pikachu, a sphere of purple-green energy forming in its mouth. Pikachu noticed too late as the energy shot out in a beam, hitting Pikachu directly in the back, sending him flying, and causing Ash to cringe. The Pokémon landed hard, but Pikachu was a tough little Pokémon. He had endured far worse than this before. Now was not the time to give up.

"Pikachu, use Agility and lead it into a Quick Attack," Ash commanded. This was his only hope of beating this Latios: get in close and grab on. He used the same tactic against Tobias, and although it was a stretch, he was going to do the same thing as he did then.

"Ash, who are you trying to fool?" Brendan asked as his Latios almost casually dodged Pikachu's attack. Ash looked concerned. "You know that your battle with Tobias is the most watched battle video on YouTube? I watched that battle over and over to see how you defeated both a Latios and a Darkrai. I memorized how you managed to beat that Latios, and let me just say that your tactic won't work at all against this Latios, and he's not even Mega-evolved. I, however, won't do that to you yet. Now, try something that may actually work." Ash was now completely flustered. He had never taken down a legendary Pokémon in battle, let alone with only two Pokémon to do so. That, however, had never stopped him in the past. He was known widely for coming up with crazy strategies without much thought.

"Latios, Shadow Ball!"

"Pikachu, use a Thunderbolt counter shield" Ash called out. Pikachu got onto its back and began spinning rapidly, forming the technique Ash designed to block attacks with another other attack. This caught Brendan slightly by surprise as it stopped the Shadow Ball.

"Alright Ash. If you want to play that way, I will oblige. LATIOS, PSYCHIC!" Brendan commanded. Pikachu was gripped and his spin was stopped by a blue aura surrounding him. Latios had Pikachu in the air at eye level before there was a pulse in the air in front of Pikachu, launching it into the wall like a bullet. When the smoke cleared, Pikachu was clearly down for the count. Ash ran to his closest friend and pulled him out of the rubble.

"Pikachu is unable to battle. Latios wins!" the referee called out.

Ash walked over toward May and Serena. "Please, take care of Pikachu while I finish this battle," he said.

Serena took Pikachu from Ash as he turned around to continue the battle. May got up and grabbed Ash's shoulder, leaned in, and whispered to him "Ash, I know Brendan. He was my rival for a while when he started out. His last Pokémon is a Swampert, but it is the strongest Swampert I have ever seen in my life."

Ash looked at May with gratitude before heading back to his box and pulled out Charizard's Pokéball. This was his last chance, he needed to Mega-Evolve his Charizard to win this, but he would need to be smart against Swampert, but that wouldn't stop him from winning. "GO! CHARIZARD!" Ash called out. Charizard appeared with the mightiest of roars. It was wearing its own Mega-Evolution Pendant, which contained Charizardite-X.

"I see that your Charizard is your last hope. I'm assuming that you will be Mega-evolving him," Brendan said. "Well, give it your best shot." Ash just smirked at his opponent as he touched his Mega-evolution keystone. That was when multiple streams of light flew from his the keystone and Charizard's pendant. When they collided, the entire field was covered with a blinding light. When that dissipated, Charizard had become Mega Charizard X. He was black and blue, and much bigger than before.

"Charizard, use Dragon Rush!" Ash commanded. With that, Charizard flew at Latios, shrouded in the same purple and green energy that Latios had shot at Pikachu. This attack was astonishingly fast, but Latios was not about to lose that way.

"Latios, Psychic!" Brendan called. Latios managed to stop Charizard mere inches from his face with the psychic power.

"Charizard, Dragon Pulse!" Ash commanded. Latios had no time to prevent the attack, even throwing Charizard wouldn't have helped, as the all the remaining energy from the Dragon Rush coalesced by Charizard's mouth and fired directly at Latios's face, sending the legendary dragon spinning until it slammed into the ground. Once the dust had cleared, Latios was clearly out cold.

"Latios is unable to battle. Charizard is the winner!" said the referee.

Brendan recalled Latios, he still had a look of extreme determination. "Alright Ash, this is our last round. I told you that I won't lose, and this next Pokémon will protect that undefeated record. COME ON OUT, SWAMPERT!" he called. When the Swampert appeared, it was immediately obvious why Brendan was so confident. This Swampert was almost twice as large as the typical Swampert, and it looked extremely confident, and if the rumors were to be believed, he had every reason to be. That, however, wasn't the end of the show. "Now, Mega-Evolve!" Brendan called out, touching his Mega Evolution Keystone. With the same process that Charizard went through, Swampert Mega Evolved. It was now almost as tall as Charizard, with double its usual attack strength. This would be trouble for Ash. "Are you ready Ash? The real fight has only just begun!" Brendan said with a little too much confidence for Ash's liking.

The Battle of the Megas:

"Ash, be careful!" May called from the sidelines. Serena was too in awe of the skill these two trainers possessed, and one had been traveling with her for over a year. Despite how dense he was, Ash had always done great in Pokémon battles, and Charizard was easily his strongest Pokémon, but this was still a bad match up for Ash. For the boy she loved, she could only cheer from the sidelines while he struggled against this incredible opponent.

"Charizard, I know you can do this! Now, start this off with a Dragon Pulse."

"Swampert, Hydro Pump!"

The two attacks were launched with perfect accuracy and precision, as they connected midair, their power proved to be evenly matched. There was a small explosion in the middle, but it didn't do too much damage to either Pokémon.

"Swampert, use Stone Edge!" Swampert became surrounded by three rings of stones which gathered speed quickly. This gave Ash pause. He had seen many Stone Edges, but all of them, even the one used by Cynthia's astoundingly strong Garchomp, had used stones about the size of human fists. These rocks were all roughly the size of Swampert's fists. "Fire!" Brendan called out.

"Charizard, get into the air and dodge that attack!" Ash called. Charizard didn't need to be commanded to do that twice, as he easily leapt into the air without trouble, the stones flying by harmlessly. At least, most of them did. One stone slammed into Charizard's gut, sending the dragon flying a short distance. "Now use Solarbeam!" Ash commanded. This would take a while, but it was his only shot at taking down this Swampert.

Brendan just smirked. "Ash, your downfall starts right now. Swampert, Brick Break!" Ash was confused as to how Swampert would hit Charizard, that is until the mud fish Pokémon jumped into the air with both arms raised. Just before Charizard was ready to fire, Swampert hit Charizard with both of its gigantic arms, launching the dragon into the ground. Swampert landed right next to Charizard, placing one foot on top of the downed dragon, almost as if to claim it as his trophy. "I guess that I won," Brendan said.

"Guess again," said Ash. "Charizard, fire!" As he gave this command, Charizard opened its mouth and fired a Solarbeam at nearly point blank range, throwing Swampert off of him. When it came to a stop about five meters from Brendan, Swampert fell to one knee. Despite Swamperts major weakness to Solarbeam, it was far from beaten.

"Swampert, show them how strong your Hydro Cannon is, and do it now before Charizard gets back up."

"Charizard, get up and use Blast Burn!"

Both Pokémon managed to struggle to their feet, clearly both had taken a beating and it was clear that this would be the last round of attacks. That was when they fired off their most powerful attacks possible. These attacks collided mid-air, and they seemed to be evenly matched, but after a second Swampert's attack began to overpower Charizard's. Despite seeing that this was a losing battle, Charizard still decided to turn up the heat and slow the attack down. Unfortunately for Ash and Charizard, Swampert reacted in the same way by turning up the strength of his Hydro Cannon. Soon enough, Hydro Cannon overtook Charizard. When the attacks died down, Charizard was on its back and it was in a daze.

"Charizard is unable to battle. The round goes to Swampert, and the match goes to Brendan," said the referee. Ash just sighed and had Charizard, who had returned to his normal self, return to his Pokéball. He had lost again.

Post-Battle:

Brendan walked up to Ash with Swampert in tow. "Hey, that was an amazing battle Ash. You are much better than your performances at the Pokémon League tournaments. I can see why you beat the Kanto Battle Frontier."

"Thanks Brendan. Why didn't you tell me that you were that new trainer everybody is talking about?"

"I wanted you to battle me like you would battle anybody else. If you had known who I was, you may have been hesitant in our battle and you would have tried to overthink your strategies. I just wanted to test you at your best."

"And what did you think of my battling?"

"You pushed me in a 6-on-6 battle, and brought me to the point where I actually needed to rely on Mega-Evolution to beat you, and only barely then. You either have the best luck, the best strategies, or both. This time, it just wasn't enough," Brendan said politely.

"Well, I guess I will have to battle you again when my Pokémon are even more powerful, won't I?" Ash said.

"I look forward to that day. Now, I have to get going home. My mother has been waiting to see me for a year now, and I want to surprise her with my visit." And with that, Brendan left Professor Birch's Laboratory and went home.

That was when May, Serena and Pikachu came to join Ash, Pikachu now recovered enough to leap onto Ash's shoulder. "Well, Ash, what do you say we follow Brendan's example and go back to my place for some rest and relaxation?" asked May.

Ash looked to Serena. "That sounds great to me, what about you Serena?"

"Sure, anything to avoid eating your cooking, Ash." Serena said. When Serena said this, everybody, even Ash, began to laugh (Ash had to cook one night after they had left Bonnie and Clemont in Kalos, and let's just say that everybody went hungry that night). When they finally calmed down, Ash, Serena, and May all departed for May's house in Petalburg City, Ash having a little more battle experience under his belt.


End file.
